Could snow trigger earthquakes? A new study in the journal Science Advances says thousands of quakes on Japan’s Noto Peninsula since 2020 could be linked to the region’s heavy snowfall, pointing to the weather correlating with “earthquake swarms.” While the study doesn’t say that climate directly causes the earthquakes, it suggests the rate of the seismic events could fluctuate depending on the weight of water on the surface and the movement of water below. Read more from NBC News.
This review, at a popular site for people interested in Japan, could serve as a guide to watching the new documentary about Japanese hostess bars. It's a new genre for me, although I have some background in journalism: https://japanned.hcommons.org/journalism
🇯🇵Japan: "Many still face COVID aftereffects a year after the government lowered the classification of COVID-19 from Category II to Category V, which includes seasonal influenza."
"While the usual hustle and bustle has returned to the streets of Japan, many people are still left with COVID-19 aftereffects — in some cases with symptoms that greatly hamper people's daily activities."
🇯🇵Japan saw over 16,000 deaths from COVID-19 in May-Nov 2023.
"Health experts have stressed the need for a renewed understanding that lives are still being lost to the virus, even after the government reclassified COVID-19 as an infectious disease on par with the seasonal flu on May 8 last year"
"...our data suggested that the Japanese population could be best modeled by admixtures of three ancestral components (hereafter K1 to K3). K1 to K3 were the highest in Okinawa, Northeast, and West, respectively (Fig. 1D and table S4). K1 (Okinawa) component maintains a relatively stable fraction of around 12% in Hondo subgroups, except for South (which is a region adjacent to Okinawa), with a higher proportion of 22%. K2 (Northeast) and K3 (West) components showed a cline from West to East."
Xiaoxi Liu et al., Decoding triancestral origins, archaic introgression, and natural selection in the Japanese population by whole-genome sequencing. Sci. Adv. 10, eadi8419 (2024). DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adi8419
"Tourists to Japan from Singapore and seven other Asian countries will soon find it easier to pay for their purchases using their local QR code wallets under a new joint payment scheme.
[...]
The countries are Singapore (SGQR), Malaysia (DuitNow QR), Indonesia (QRIS), the Philippines (QRPh), Thailand (Thai QR Payment), Cambodia (KHQR), Vietnam (VietQR) and India (BharatQR)."
Cities and villages across Japan hold koinobori (carp-streamers) festivals in celebration of Children’s Day, May 5th. The koinobori are said to represent good health, happiness and success as a result of the courage and strength of the carp to swim upstream.
Some stickers spotted near JR Shinjuku Station in Tokyo. The top one reads #戦争と家父長制を憎む.
Literal translation: I hate war & patriarchy. Suggested translation: Fuck war & the patriarchy.
The other sticker shows a 招き猫 maneki-neko (beckoning cat or lucky cat) beneath a Palestinian flag, whose stripes read "Ceasefire now / Save lives / Free Palestine!"
Angebliche Folge der mRNA-Impfung : Kein "Turbokrebs"-Notstand in Japan
Weder erklärt Japan wegen massiv ansteigenden Krebsmortalitätsraten den Gesundheitsnotstand, noch hat eine Studie nachgewiesen, dass die mRNA-Impfung gegen Covid-19 der Auslöser eines solchen Anstiegs ist. Von Wulf Rohwedder.
Yet another destination has had to take measures to deal with badly behaved tourists. Photography enthusiasts recently discovered that Fujikawaguchiko, in Japan's Yamanashi Prefecture, has a perfect vantage point to capture a shot of Mount Fuji in contrast to the neon sign of Lawson Convenience Store. To get the picture, they're parking without permission, blocking traffic, and even climbing onto buildings. Authorities have put up an eight-foot-tall barrier to try and curb their behavior. Here's more from Conde Nast Traveler.